This was the highest-grossing movie in China until Wolf Warrior 2 (2017) dethroned it in August 2017. It was also the first film to gross CN¥3 billion (equivalent to roughly $431.1 million in U.S. dollars).
Has the 12th highest worldwide gross in 2016 @ $553.8 millions, Ahead of a lot of big Hollywood movies like Kung Fu Panda 3, Warcraft, Jason Bourne etc.
Source: Boxofficemojo.
Shot in a glass production factory along with some external locations in Shenzhen.
The film was only released in 100 U.S. theaters and its total U.S. box office take was around $3 million. No other film in history has ever earned as much as this one did internationally (over $550 million) with such little return from American receipts.
In a making of featurette, director Tsui Hark claimed he took a part in the film merely to see how Stephen Chow works.